How To Be An Artist

Christian Heidicker is the Newbery Award winning author of Scary Stories for Young Foxes along with other titles such as Attack of the 50 Foot Wallflower and Cure for the Common Universe. He also happens to be one my art chums from Avrec Art House (Check out Step 16 for the story of Avrec Art House).

In this episode we discuss our shared love of Jim Henson's Storyteller, the effects of the Newbery Award and Covid on a book launch, using formulas in writing without feeling formulaic, why we tell scary stories, theory and intuition, meditation and creativity, and the struggles and successes that come with making art.

More information on Christian can be found at https://www.cmheidicker.com/

You can support How To Be An Artist at http://patreon.com/h2bna

Tim Farrington is the author of various works of poetry, fiction and non-fiction including the Monk Downstairs, Hell of Mercy, Lizzie's War and the Book of the Dead. Besides being a writing virtuoso, Tim is also a long time contemplative practitioner with a wealth of experience to share with meditation newbies like myself.

In this episode we discuss Tim's non-fiction work Hell of Mercy, and its lessons for navigating the domains of depression, mania and the Dark Night of the Soul. We also talk about how making art is like carving stone, why morality is all that matters, the perils of promoting meditation, the place for art and spirituality in contemporary America and the spiritual roots of art.

You can read more about Tim at https://timfarringtonauthor.com/

Note: We discuss the Coen Brother's film A Serious Man, but we mislabel it as A Simple Man.

Jacquelyn and Dallin Cerva are film makers and the co-founders of Avrec Art House, a creative space for film makers and one of the art communities I had the privilege to be a part of. In this episode we get to hear the story of the founding of Avrec Art House, the challenges it faced, its acquisition by the Utah Film Center and its eventual closure. A fantastic post mortem for any artists looking to initiate a similar project. We also discuss Jackie and Dallin's musical projects, the challenges of independent film makers, breaking in vs. staying in, making art for the right reasons, and the importance of finding the right allies in your artistic endeavors. 

You can check out Jackie and Dallin's musical project, No Shooting Friends, Joseph here: https://open.spotify.com/album/6NBtNM6RnyXRFjEHAZMHKn?si=6mXYy_ruSWWVBVpZH8XpbA

You can support How To Be An Artist at patreon.com/h2bna

Dani Jones is a bestselling cartoonist, illustrator, writer and an internet omnipresence. Her web comic, Everything is Going to Be Okay is one of my favorite things, and I am continually envious of Dani's inventiveness, productivity and courage as an artist and a human being. In this episode we talk about narrowing your focus, faceless hordes, whether or not you should move out of house with a leaky roof, and Avatar TLAB and Legend of Korra.

More about Dani

https://danijones.com/

https://www.everythingisgoingtobeokcomic.com/

Twitter: @danidraws

The fourth of four discussions with my brothers. This one is with Ethan Dayton, a machinima artist, youtuber and the creator of Dr. Smite's Improv.  In this episode we discuss the story of Ethan's discovery of being on the autism spectrum, how he made sense of the world before that, the challenges he has faced navigating a neurotypical world and the work he is currently engaged in.

You can find Ethan's work at:

Youtube.com/Dreyfusxano

Twitch.tv/Dreyfusxano

Twitter.com/Dreyfusxano

I continue my discussions with the SLC Draw Night Pantheon with Derek Hunter. Derek Hunter is the prolific artist behind Pretty Violent from Image Comics and an animation designer with credits on Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, Ducktales and the Netflix Original, Kid Cosmic. In this episode we discuss our shared hatred of commuting, whether or not it's okay to have kids, what drives us to make art, fitting in a comic title with a full time job, navigating the market needs of art, definitions of success, playing with kids and recharging as an artist.

Derek on twitter: @derekdraws

Derek's work: 

http://pirateclub.com/about/

https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/pretty-violent

The third of four interviews with my brothers. This one with Adrian Dayton, founder and CEO of Clearview Social -- a social media force-multiplier for professional firms. Adrian is an entrepreneur and social media specialist, with a particular expertise in social media for law firms. In this episode we discuss creativity as an entrepreneur, institutional vs. real-world success, things that impress vs. things you love, the misconceptions about sales and preparing for opportunity.

Sam Lotfi is one of my favorite artists in the comic field today working on titles at DC, Marvel, IDW and Darkhorse, most recently including Last Stop on the Red Line with Paul Maybury. In this episode we talk a bit about his unique career path from his early experiences with acting to his time in the animation industry learning the world's toughest art form. We also discuss Sam's approach to storytelling, process, time and energy management and the invisible skills that are essential to growing as an artist.

You can see more of Sam's work at https://www.samlotfi.com/

Miles Bukiet is a meditation teacher with tens of thousands of hours of experience in ancient and contemporary practice and the founder of Dharma Gates, a non-profit focused on deep mediation training for young adults. Miles has made a particular study of monastic traditions and the forms they might take and the role they might play in modernity.

In this discussion, we discuss the importance of having high standards for meditation, what modern monasteries look like, and speculate on what an art focused monastery might look like.

Miles's Capstone on Monasteries of the future: https://www.milesbukiet.com/capstone

More about Miles:

https://www.milesbukiet.com/

https://www.dharma-gates.org/

Jess Smart Smiley is a prolific cartoonist and illustrator with an infectious enthusiasm for the art of cartooning and storytelling. In this episode we discuss Jess’s health challenges, the importance of his work as a coping method, process, planning for the joy of work, faith and prayer, being in the moment, creating the work you want to do, and the shortest distance between two points.

https://jesssmartsmiley.wordpress.com/

Support this podcast at pateron.com/h2bna